Loom picker



Herberl 5. Covey Feb. 10, 1948. v Q s. D LESESNE 2,435,748

LOOM PICKER Filed March 27, 1946 Emerita:

Sherman D. Lesesne Uldness y I (Ittorneg Patented Feb. 10, v1948 LOOM PICKER Sherman D. Lesesne, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Graton & Knight Company, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 27, 1946, Serial No. 657,531

3 Claims.

This invention relates to loom pickers and more particularly to the structure of the picker head which receives the shuttle and throws it in the reverse direction through the loom.

Pickers are customarily made of leather or of rubber cemented fabric; and many types of constructions have been tried to obtain a longer life and greater resistance to the impacts of the sharp nosed shuttle which gradually wears into the picker head and ultimately bursts it. Various attempts have also been made to reinforce the picker body by means of a surrounding metal casing; but so severe is the impact and bursting strain that in time the metal casing itself is ruptured. This necessitates stopping the loom and replacing the picker parts with a consequent loss of time for both the machine and the operator.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a picker head construction having a metal reinforcement for the picker body, wherein the picker head is held resiliently but firmly on the picker stick and the shuttle receiving bore is so positioned as to give a long life of useful service. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure. I

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the picker head mounted on the stick;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the head;

Fig. 3 is a rear view; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded view showing the assembly of the parts.

In accordance with this invention, I have provided a metal reinforced picker body made of several parallel impact disks, and preferably thick leather disks I and II, carried in a reinforcing cup-shaped metal casing I2 having a peripheral cylindrical wall which substantially equalizes the radial stresses set up by the impact of the shuttle and an end wall I4 which receives the direct impact blow. A shuttle receiving bore or recess I5 is initially formed in the outer portion of the leather plug formed of the disks, and the plug is so positioned on the wooden picker stick I6 that the shuttle will fit accurately into this preformed bore at the initial blow.

The casing cup I2 is integral with and carried by a ferrule I8 which receives the top of the picker stick IE5 and holds the head in a proper position.

. This ferrule is a hollow, open ended rectangular shell having a flat metal portion I9 provided with an outer face parallel With and secured in full contact with theouter face of wall I4, or the parts may be formed .integrally. A leather strip or 2 facing fits between the inside of the ferrule wall It and the side of'the picker stick I6 and serves as a buffer. that the flat, parallel, cylindrical impact disks I0 and II are mounted on the flat end wall I4 of the cup-shaped casing I2, and the impact blow is transmitted substantially perpendicularly and directly from the bottom disk to the wall I4 and thence to the metal wall I9 of the rectangular ferrule. The picker head is shaped to be tilted down through a small angle, such as 6 degrees, relative to the center line of the stick, as is indi: cated by the wedge shape of the wall I4.

As shown in the exploded view of Fig. 4, the ferrule It may be made of sheet steel bent to form a hollow body of substantially rectangular cross section, with the rear wall 2| formed of two overlapping layers welded together. The ferrule is cut away to provide a beveled edge 22 which permits the head to clear a buffer strap mounted on the loom frame. The steel casing I2 may be suitably formed, as by a drawing and punching operation, to provide a cup for holding the leather impact disks. The cup has two parallel spaced ears 23 which fit tightly against the opposite parallel sides of the ferrule when assembled. The

' ears may be secured to the ferrule by a silver solder or by a brazing or welding operation, so as to provide an integral structure having the walls I4 and I9 in contact. The walls I 4 and I9 may be resistance welded together and the ears 23 omitted, but the latter serve a useful purpose in that they are tapered and merge into the wall of the ferrule and prevent a thread from catching on the picker head.

The picker head, comprising the metal casing I2 and the ferrule I8, is held firmly in position up by the ferrule and thus prevents looseness from developing. The ferrule has an elongated slot 26 through which a tapered wood screw 21 is screwed into the stick after the picker body has been properly located on the stick and thus prevents the body from moving up or down relative to the shuttle nose. This screw, however,'is not intended to secure the parts together and The parts are so arranged.

tant function. It is made of resilient rubber :of'

low compression set, and it preferably has that composition which, when squeezewtoone halfzof its thickness, will return substantially to its original shape and thickness when the compression stress is released and even.afterrailongperiod of compression. The preferred rubbercomposition is made in accordance with standard'practice of vulcanized ,rubber'wvhich has a durometer hardness of about 72%. "squeezed with'a'defiection or'compression'of 30% This rubber, when :fo'rithree'daysat 1-60 F., will 'have'a'compression set of 80%. When the "head is driven onto the .jpicker stick, the tbuffer is compressed about one ,halfybutUnder normal temperature andimpact conditions, it "will return *to substantially its original thickness 'after the pressure has been released. Thus, this 'rubber bufier serves as an elastic, resilient "body which "keeps the picker 'headifirmly positioned on the stick and yetpro- "vides a resilient buffer "that absorbs the shock incident to the sudden forward movement of the picker "stick in-returning the shuttle. So important is this rubber buffer that, if it were omitted, the life of the picker head would be :decreasedmaterially.

*Leather differs in its structure, and its stretch 'anditensile stretch-depend-uponthe source of the hideandits'treatment, aswell as the location "where the piece is cut-fromthe hide.

Hence I choose for the impact members It and 1! the thicker "portions of "an oak tanned leather hide or ahide treated by "other satisfactory tanning 'methods; -and' I preferably 'employ'leather for the -leather*disk 10 which is about one quarter of an inchgor-more in'thickness and-notlessthan 7% thick. The inner'layers H -may be thinner, but ,I prefer that they be as "thick as "the layer Ill.

Thefleshsi'de oftheleather istougher and-more resistant to the impact of the pointed "shuttle thanisthe-grain'cr skin side of the leather, and "for this reason I place-the leather layers, -or at 'least'the outerlayer'l 0, withtheir fieshsidesfacing outwardly toward the shuttle.

The leather disks "l and -I"I are cemented t0- "gether to form a solid leatherplug, and the plug itself is c'emente'dinto the cylindrical casing l2 "so as to prevent movement of the leather =parts relative 'to eachother 'an'dto the casing. The preferred leather cement is a flexible cement, such as an animal'orhide-glue or a suitable'rubbercement, sothat the parts will be held togetherunder'theimpact'blowsof the shuttle and the cement will'notbreak down. Likewise, the

impact layer of leather is made of a strong piece of leather and "preferably of oak tanned hide. Thatleather serves to insulatethemetal {from the wood stick "It and prevent themetal "body -from wearing or chewing into the stick. The leather "strip ifl iscementedto'the-innerwall -face "IQ of the "ferrule. This leather has ahigh ffriction 'coefiicient and prevents the picker from slipping on the stick, and its slight compressibility'is'suchthat when'the 'pickerhe'a'd is driven onto the stick with sufficient force to compress the back rubber layer 24 to one half of its thickness, the leather body is likewise compacted slightly to a very firm condition and thus holds the parts very tightly assembled.

Although the impact body is preferably made of leather, I may for certain purposes employ layers of strong'textileifabric of cotton, rayon or nylon, and preferably coarse cotton fabric of the type of heavy duck or canvas, which are cemented "together by vulcanized rubber. The layers of fabric are substantially in contact but the rubber coats their surfaces and unites them into a re- =-'silientbutzsubstantially integral body. This rub- 'berjplug is likewise cemented into the metal ferrulewith rubber cement.

.Theivari'ous itypes of pickers have been tested on an accelerated testing machine, a machine having a sliding member mounted on slide rods out metal reinforcement averaged "408;000 blows;

while a picker made in accordance with this invention of rawhide leather discs cemented together and reinforced bythe steel casing and held in place by the leather and rubber buffers'with- -stood'2j.200L000"blowson theaverage, and'some of the pickers stood up for 3,000,000 blows.

It was also found that "the 'initiallocation of the shuttle receiving bore f5 above the center --line of the cylindrical'casing I 2 added verymaterially to the life of the picker. That 'initlalpilot bore is preferably located Tie" above the center line of the'plug. The-pickeris so located'onthe stick thatithe shuttle'nose initiallyfits'accur'ately into'the bore. Then'astimegoes on,1the shuttle tends to wear "the recess in the "leather body downwardly or towards a concentric "position,

until it is-substantially centered withinthe cylindrical casing-near theend 'ofitsus'e'ful life..and thus causes theimpact'stresses'to be'di'stributed substantially uniformly, in ara'di'al:direotio'niat a time when theseblows tend'toprovide'a greater strain on the reinforcingcasing.

The operationof-thedevice will be apparent to one skilled in the art, in view of the abovedisclosure. The utility :andthe primary constructional features have also .been explained. It,

-'however,-may'be notedthat theferrule should be longer transversely .than the thickness :of the picker stick and that the space thus ,provided 'befilledby the leather and ubber buffers, which are "so thick that the rubber :must" be compressed :to a materially smaller 'dimension'so as to'insure 'a'tight fit of'the headon the. stick. Ipr'eferithat the rubber "buffer the atleast /8" and preferably T? thick. It is also desirable that the impact plu be formed 'of parallel layers of "material located in a -c'ylind-rical-metal casing so 'that the bursting stresses will be "properly 'distribute'd.

Other aspectsof this construction 'havebeen set forthabove. It'will nowbe'appreciated'that various'modifications maybe made'in the constructional details of this 'device within the scope of the appended claims.

.Iclaim: 11. .A loom picker head comprising a-cuprshaped 'metal casing having its closed end integral with a metal ferrule whose opening is longer transversely than the corresponding dimension of the picker stick which is surrounded thereby, a layer of resilient material on the inner wall of the ferrule remote from the base of the casing which is highly compressed by insertion of the stick into the ferrule and serves to hold the head tightly on the stick without wearing the latter, a resilient buffer between the base of the casing and the adjacent face of the stick, means for locating the head on the stick and limiting its movement lengthwise thereof but which does not restrict transverse movement provided by the resilient material, and impact receiving means secured within the casing for receiving the impact of the shuttle,

2. A loom picker head comprising, a metal ferrule having a forward and a rear wall, a cupshaped metal casing formed integrally with the forward wall of the ferrule, a resilient buffer on the inner surface of each of said walls, the spacing between said buffers being less than the corresponding dimension of a picker stick on which said head is adapted to be used, and an impact absorbing member in said cup whereby impacts are transmitted to the picker stick solely through said buffers, said forward and rear walls being joined by side walls, at least one of which has a fore and aft elongated opening therein adapted to receive a retaining pin on the stick whereby to locate the head on the stick and limit its movement lengthwise thereof but not limiting transverse movement provided by the resilient buifers.

3. A loom picker head comprising, a metal ferrule having a forward and a rear wall, a cupshaped metal casing formed integrally with the forward wall of the ferrule, a resilient buffer on the inner surface of each of said walls, the spacing between said buffers being less than the corresponding dimension of a picker stick on which said head is adapted to be used, and an impact absorbing member in said cup whereby impacts are transmitted to the picker stick solely through said buffers, one of said buffers being more readily compressible than the other, said forward and rear walls being joined by side walls, at least one of which has a fore and aft elongated opening therein adapted to receive a retaining pin on the stick whereby to locate the head on the stick and limit its movement lengthwise thereof but not limiting transverse movement provided by the. resilient bulfers.

SHERMAN D. LESESNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 171,520 Labounty Dec. 28, 1875 417,665 Chippendale Dec. 17, 1889 836,073 Forgues Nov. 13, 1906 2,104,832 Dodenhofl Jan. 11, 1938 2,149,568 Bacon Mar. 7, 1939' 2,222,352 Lewis Nov, 19, 1940 

